Bariatric Surgery Has More Long-Term Benefits Compared to GLP-1’s, Study Finds

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CLEVELAND - A new study from Cleveland Clinic finds bariatric surgery for weight-loss offers more long-term benefits compared to GLP-1 medications.

“We found that people who had bariatric surgery lost more weight, they had better diabetes control and more importantly they had better clinical outcomes,” explained Ali Aminian, MD, Director of the Bariatric and Metabolic Institute.

Dr. Aminian led the study and said they looked at nearly 4,000 patients with diabetes and obesity who had undergone bariatric surgery or were taking a GLP-1 medication.

They found that while both bariatric surgery and GLP-1’s can help improve cardiovascular health and metabolism, bariatric surgery ultimately had more long-term benefits.

For example, there was a 32% lower risk of death and 35% lower risk of major heart problems.

So, why does bariatric surgery seem to perform better?

“Bariatric surgery is usually one and done. So, people undergo surgery and carry the benefit for the years. But for the medication, they need to remain on the medications. So, if they stop taking them, then all of those benefits are going to subside and are going to go away,” said Dr. Aminian.

Dr. Aminian notes that the study, which followed patients over a 10 year span, involved a mix of newer and older GLP-1 medications.

However, there are more medications now on the market, so they plan to do additional research to see how those compare as well.